A lot of people may relate SeaWorld to entertaining guests with animal shows and wildlife theme parks. Since the first park opened in San Diego in 1964, the aim was to bring the sea to people, allowing them to come face to face with dolphins and sea lions. Over the decades that followed we have seen the park expand, opening properties in Orlando, Florida and California.
However, this idea of animals entertaining guests has not gone down well with members of certain activist groups. There has been an air of disapproval and controversy with SeaWorld that has met protest and even law suit cases. Although this is a minority, it's not difficult to see the other activities SeaWorld do to not only entertain guests but to also help the environment as a whole.
SeaWorld have starting to become more vocal in promoting their conservation work, with regular updates on their blog, Twitter and YouTube. Anyone interested in helping or simply hearing about their work outside of the theme parks simply has to look online.
Their most recent activity resulted in helping a loggerhead turtle by removing a lodged hook from its throat. The video was posted online and inspired people to join in the cause for helping animals. This wasn't just conservation, it was also education.
Now we're seeing a crossover of this conservation work into the theme parks, where guests can get first-hand experience of what it is like to help the environment. The Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, a SEA Parks owned attraction, has recently opened their animal hospital allowing guests to look after and treat the parks resident creatures. This also gives a compelling insight into the working of animal surgery for any budding young vet who might be interested.
There's also been a buzz about the new attraction opening at SeaWorld's Orlando park. Turtle Trek, which is set to open in April this year, provides an innovative look into the fragility of our oceans, using sea turtles as our guide.
Now SeaWorld are taking it one step further with their non-profit organisation, SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund. This means that SEA Parks are an accredited organisation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums proving they have met and exceeded the standards in education, conservation and research.
Although the conservational work is becoming more prominent, there still remains the issue of keeping animals captive. It seems futile to target SeaWorld for this as there are countless zoos and parks around the world which do the same thing. However, SeaWorld actively care for their resident animals and a lot of them are bred in captivity. It was recently proven, in fact, that their Killer whales live a longer life due to the care they receive.
The recent law suit from PETA accusing SeaWorld of slave labour was subsequently dropped after it was recognised that the constitution is decidedly for human activities rather than non-humans.
Although the opinions of SeaWorlds activities might be mixed, there is proof that the end result is beneficial as a force of good. From helping manatees and rescuing sea turtles, there is a strong drive in preserving the natural habitat and educating other people into doing so as well. By Richard T Skidmore
